Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[Jonst]

^ thanks man! Yeah, I got that tactic... The guardian attack is the only one in the whole game that makes a bit nervous... As long as I have resources, I'll be ok!

Are you back to futari then?

[The Armchair General]

I've been playing Great Mahou Daisakusen/Dimahoo JP version. I'm going to try to clear it and get a high score. Though I'm curious, if I clear it will I technically be the first western player to clear Great Mahou Daisakusen?

[Jonst]

^ no. It appears on a few people's 1cc lists. The most recent(ish) to clear it is chempop... I think.

[Stevens]

^ thanks man! Yeah, I got that tactic... The guardian attack is the only one in the whole game that makes a bit nervous... As long as I have resources, I'll be ok!

Are you back to futari then?

Yeah. I'm kind of that point with UD right now where playing more seems to be doing more harm than good. Stupid mistakes all over the place. Maybe I need to take a week or two away from it? Futari has been doing nicely in the meantime.

I've been splitting time between original and maniac. I would love to try god mode, but probably am not ready for it just yet.

[Kiken]

Thunder Force IV/Lightening Force

Stage 8 is quite aptly named... WALL. What an obnoxious boss rush.

[copy-paster]

Thunder Force IV/Lightening Force

What an obnoxious boss rush.

Hahah the boss rush looks cool though, right for the music.

And then I recently played NES Silver Surfer on my emu, clear the Reptille stage.

TBH this is the game that I started interest in shmups, putting my patience and frustration when cleared the game, and my first game I've used and abuse the save state feature. I didn't have thoughts this is a bad game or something (yes, I play this game first before I watch "the nerd video"), the way the Surfer dies by touching everything didn't bother me at that time, it's like "hey, almost hori shmups do this right? so it's normal for me". With some skill and save state abuse I cleared the game 2012 ago, the time while I don't have any 'knowledge' of shmup. =)

[Shepardus]

I've been playing Great Mahou Daisakusen/Dimahoo JP version. I'm going to try to clear it and get a high score. Though I'm curious, if I clear it will I technically be the first western player to clear Great Mahou Daisakusen?

I've seen a couple Dimahoo clears including a 53m run by BOS. I can't think of any Great Mahou Daisakusen clears off the top of my head, though I'm sure someone could do it even though it's supposedly a bit harder than Dimahoo (I think the rank is stronger?).

[NeoStrayCat]

Well, in the sense of Halloween and all...Caladrius and DeathSmiles! X3

[To Far Away Times]

Thunder Force IV/Lightening Force

Stage 8 is quite aptly named... WALL. What an obnoxious boss rush.

Save state practice is your friend. I couldn't imagine making it all the way there and then having to practice those bosses from the Stage 1 each time.

[Kiken]

Thunder Force IV/Lightening Force

Stage 8 is quite aptly named... WALL. What an obnoxious boss rush.

Save state practice is your friend. I couldn't imagine making it all the way there and then having to practice those bosses from the Stage 1 each time.

I'm playing on OG hardware, so save states aren't an option. At least I'm becoming more and more familiar with the earlier stages (which are all pains in the ass).

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Thunder Force IV is a real pleasure. The thunder sword deals with everything on stage 8.

[Moonwalker]

TF IV is pure goodness and one of my fav shmups. Got my 1cc last year.

[To Far Away Times]

Thunder Force IV/Lightening Force

Stage 8 is quite aptly named... WALL. What an obnoxious boss rush.

Save state practice is your friend. I couldn't imagine making it all the way there and then having to practice those bosses from the Stage 1 each time.

I'm playing on OG hardware, so save states aren't an option. At least I'm becoming more and more familiar with the earlier stages (which are all pains in the ass).

The final boss on Stage 8 is probably the hardest part in the game. The difficulty drops back down to a level more in line with the other stages after that.

[Jonst]

I would have easily cleared fast striker tonight... Had I not lost two fucking lives to things i NEVER die on!!

... When you know you should have stopped playing an hour ago...

[Stevens]

Had I not lost two fucking lives to things i NEVER die on!!

Ha. My story everytime I'm trying to accomplish something. Ugh.

I picked up Steredenn on Steam after watching the latest Bullet Heaven. I usually don't love horis, but I like this one a lot. Helps that I can play it on my laptop and actually see what it going on since it takes up the whole screen.

Thoughts after a few plays.

I haven't tried it with a stick yet, but it controls well enough with analog as your hit box is mercifully tiny.

It has great music, graphics are slick, the opening sequence reminds me a lot of Battlestar Gallactica.

The life bar/1 life system works well and more importantly feels fair since the game is random.

Scoring, as pointed out in the review, is largely influenced by what stages you get since some have better score potential than others. This is a non issue here - it is nice to have a game where I don't have to worry about score. That said the wave system is very similar to Sturmwind.

Stages are Psikyo short, not a bad thing.

Two weapon system is fun, even if some are supposedly useless.

I'll admit it was the overall presentation of the game that hooked me. I'm glad it plays well.

[munchiaz]

I've been play Great Mahou Daisakusen for the past week. I just got back from a trip to Japan where i picked up a Vega Jr. and Daisakusen. This was my first arcade related purchase besides my Neo-Geo big red awhile back. Finally dove into the arcade scene. Daisakusen is a blast to play. Its pretty hard, but the charge mechanic and item collecting make the game stand out, and keeps me coming back.

[Shepardus]

Tried bomb mode in DDPII: Bee Storm since I figured that being able to stock up on multiple bombs and not having to worry about grazing between bombs would help me out since I apparently really suck at grazing. I was right, I think I do get further more consistently in bomb mode even though it's not as fun and doesn't score as well as energy mode. It infuriates me that many of the enemies that drop bombs sometimes drop powerup items instead and I can't figure out why; for all I know it could be random, which would really suck. Also, as with any game with bombs, I have a strong propensity towards dying with 3 or more bombs in stock, so I usually end up wasting nearly a dozen bombs every credit.

I'm not really enjoying myself on this game anymore, so I might just drop this for Dodonpachi and Donpachi, or Mushihimesama since that's releasing on Steam soon...

[Stevens]

Oh, hello again Larsa.

I'm close..

[Jonst]

^ yes!!

[030079AR]

Danmaku 2 Unlimited on Tab, also Raiden Fighter...

[ACSeraph]

Due to various difficult situations in my life my quest to 100% clear MGS5 has screeched to a halt right in front of the finish line... but I've still got time for Gradius

My quest against the Moai continues with a non-custom Aoba clear of Otomedius G (surprisingly decent game, though bad by series standards), a 1-All of Nemesis for original Gameboy, and currently alternating between Gradius Galaxies and Gradius Gaiden.

Last night I made it to 1-7 boss in Gaiden, so I think the clear is close. This game deserves its rep; the stages are fantastically designed artistically, conceptually, and from a gameplay standpoint. The difficulty feels just right to me, with far less cheap shot kills than the average Gradius game. Some of those bosses are intense too, the eyeball always terrifies me.

Galaxies is really similar to Gaiden mechanically, and also has really great presentation for the tech. It has some weird issues that hold it back though. The speed of the ship feels terrible, much too slow at 1 powerup and much to fast at 2. And the stages are incredibly cheaply designed, with straight up dead ends in the speed section and the utterly obnoxious falling ice platforms in stage 2. But despite these issues, I think Galaxies is a pretty damn good game. It just could have been so so much more. A bit of wasted potential here.

[Perikles]

Due to various difficult situations in my life my quest to 100% clear MGS5 has screeched to a halt right in front of the finish line... but I've still got time for Gradius

That's a neat coincidence, I'm also slowly working on 100% completion in MGS5 whilst playing a lot of Gradius games. Not that I'm going to get a permanent 100% file, though:

Spoiler

Butterfly emblem for life!

Your post also reminds me that I need to get back to Gradius Gaiden in order to bag the 2-ALL. So many games (and 2-ALLs), so little time. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours, I'm sure you'll get the clear in a timely manner.

[cave hermit]

Picked up Battle Garegga for the first time in awhile; I'm now competent enough to get to the boss rematches in the Cloud stage regularly with about 4 million points.

Been trying to play it with my widescreen laptop TATE'd, although the screen glare (obviously the screen wasn't meant to be displayed that way) combined with the game's dark color palette is making it a bit difficult to see it properly.

I've also been meaning to try out some different routes in Darius Gaiden now that I have the 1CC; from what I've seen of the different routes there's a surprising amount of variety, at least thematically.

Oh yeah, and I guess I'm playing mushihimesama too...

[Stevens]

Still working on Futari..

Reached Larsa again, new high score, but still looking for the clear.

I started stage 5 with one ship in reserve. I made it all the way to the 1up, but since I had no bombs it was risky. I was able to get it but was hit while I was retreating.

Got all the way through the gauntlet leading up to Larsa and fucking eat a bullet from the next to last dragon. Would have been nice to have a bomb and an extra life..

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Loaded up Deathsmiles again after not playing for a while. It went very terribly since I don't remember any of the patterns. I'm going to need to look up some replays to try to learn how to better play the game.

[Legendary Hoamaru]

Damn, while practicing the Type B last boss on RevolGear 2 VerD Revision+EX I found out that it has a hidden Extra Stage. If you go to the Final Stage/Boss Rush practice stage, rather than choosing a path just stay in the middle for both options and you'll face a squadron of RevolGear instead of the last boss versions.

Still can't beat the Type B boss without continuing though even on practice. I don't feel as intimidated by it now at least, I can survive the first phase without dying sometimes lol. Death against it feels like an automatic run ender since he has some nasty taito lasers and other seeking attacks you need at least one speed for. If you don't kill his third phase fast enough the final attack is very difficult to dodge as well.

[Stevens]

Reached stage 5 only dying once, my score was at 97 million. I think "Great! I've got one life left, there's the extend at 100 and the 1 Up. I'm in great shape".

Dies twice before 100 million. I re started the stage just to see if I would have cleared it. I got both extends but fell a little short. Getting closer and more practice never hurts.

[LordHypnos]

Been warming up to shmups again with an assortment of Mars Matrix, Fantasy Zone II, and rRootage over the past few weeks. Also I got a chance to play some Jamestown with someone else, and I gotta say that the design is pretty good for multiplayer.

[Jonst]

^ thought you'd been quiet for a while LH!...

[Stevens]

Jamestown absolutely shines in multiplayer, but only in multiplayer.